1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cooking appliances and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance having a rear alignment and support system for laterally positioning and mounting a range top on the appliance.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Cooking appliances in the form of free-standing and slide-in oven ranges are well known. Typically, a cooking operation is performed on a cooking surface defined by one or more of a plurality of heating zones or burners arranged about a range top or, alternatively, in an oven formed within the appliance. Generally, oven ranges have burners mounted directly to the range top or to structure provided below the range top. This structure can take various forms, for example, the burners are mounted directly to the range top, to the appliance chassis, to rails extending below the range top or, in some cases, to flexible mounting structure carried either by the chassis or other support structure provided below the range top. In any event, it is important for the manufacturer to provide a means to access the area below the cooktop, such as for servicing of mechanical and electrical components, or to clean-up after spills occurring on the range top.
Manufacturers have developed a variety of methods for mounting range tops to appliance cabinets so as to allow either a consumer or service technician to access the area immediately below the cooking surface. These methods range from providing hinges on the range top to allow it to swing upwardly to expose the mechanical and electrical components, to attachments in the form of tab and slot arrangements between a range top and an associated appliance chassis. In the later case, aligning the range top with respect to the appliance is critical when mounting gas burners directly to the range top.
Range top mounted gas burners include structure which interconnects the burner to gas delivery elements, typically gas supply piping. Without proper alignment, the attachment components cannot interengage, resulting in the gas burner being improperly aligned with the gas supply structure. When the gas burner and gas supply are misaligned, the overall efficiency of the burner is greatly reduced.
Based on the above, there exists a need in the art for a system to properly secure and align a range top to a cooking appliance. More specifically, there exists a need in the art for a system that readily aligns the range top and associated burner elements with respect to the appliance, while additionally serving as attachment structure for securing the range top to the appliance.
The present invention is directed to a cooking appliance including a cabinet and a range top. The cabinet is generally defined by a front portion, opposing side panels, a bottom panel and a back panel, while the range top is mounted to the cabinet. More specifically, a plurality of heating elements, which in the preferred form of the invention, are defined by gas burner elements, are arranged about the range top. The cabinet also includes a control panel having an associated pair of laterally spaced end caps provided at side portions thereof.
In accordance with a preferred form of the invention, the cooking appliance includes two sets of alignment components, with each set of alignment components being defined by cooperating first and second sets of alignment elements. Preferably, the first set of alignment elements is provided on the range top and the second set of alignment elements is provided on each of the laterally spaced end caps. With this construction, when the range top is mounted upon the cabinet, the first and second sets of alignment elements become interengaged to laterally position the range top with respect to the cabinet.
In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, the second set of alignment elements are constituted by tab members projecting from side portions of each of the pair of laterally spaced end caps. More specifically, the second set of alignment elements includes a first or upper tab member and a second or lower tab member. Preferably, the upper tab member is defined by a flat, blade-like tab, while the lower tab member is defined by an in-turned tab element adapted to engage with an inner side portion of the range top. With this construction, the lower tab member outwardly biases the range top resulting in the range top being properly aligned with respect to the cabinet.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.